The law needs changing - the Government must do more than tinker at the edges

Although I believe that the increased number of unmarried couples has created problems that are not covered with existing legislation, I was startled to learn that the Government has unveiled proposals to make unmarried mothers declare their children’s fathers on birth certificates.  

At present, only children born to married couples must have a father’s name entered on their birth certificates. When a mother and father are not married, the naming is at the mother’s discretion. Every year nearly 50,000 babies - seven per cent of the total - are “sole-registered”, with only the mother’s name on their certificate.

The new proposals are described by The Daily Telegraph as follows:

Mothers will be forced to name their child’s father on birth certificates for the first time under Government plans which will improve collection of child maintenance from absent fathers.

The 45,000 mothers who leave the father’s name blank when registering a birth each year will have to identify him unless they can prove it is “impossible, impractical or unreasonable” to do so.

Once a name is given, the potential father will be contacted and ordered to register or submit to a paternity test. If a DNA test is positive, the man’s name will be recorded on the child’s birth records.

Fathers who deny paternity, but do not undertake a DNA test, will face potential fines.   

Speaking as a family lawyer, I’m less than impressed. Continue reading »

Where did the justice go?

When I was a pupil at Leeds Girls’ High School, (how many years ago?!!!) each week we had to learn some Shakespeare by heart. The meaning of what we learned was never explained beforehand, and we had to work it out for ourselves. The following day we had to take turns to recite it from memory, with all the meaning we had attributed to it. This was quite difficult to do, but one speech fascinated me more than the others. I have never forgotten learning Portia’s role as the male lawyer in the Merchant of Venice, and her words about the “quality of mercy” in the law. This famous speech argues that there is room for moral obligations within the law’s confines.

I think Portia fashioned my own approach to the law, and fired up my enthusiasm for becoming a lawyer. I liked her clever arguments. I liked her understanding of justice because it is mine too.  “Justice” can often mean something completely different to two people caught up on opposing sides of the same case. Justice is about more than administration; it is about tempering the application of law with mercy, to bring about the right result. This is how the law is applied within the English legal system, in both the civil and criminal courts. It is a system within which I have been privileged to work, and I love it.

However, reading The Times about the new reforms to the Child Support Agency, I wondered for the umpteenth time when the principles of mercy and justice will come into play.

Continue reading »